Quran Study - 22-Oct-1982 - By Dr. Rashad Khalifa
Transcript
0:00 Maybe I would like to use this word. They are astray in the sense that they are also deviated.
0:06 I think the word astray can also mean they deviated from the right path, when they were on it at one time.
0:13 And Verse 16 says so. They have chosen straying instead of guidance. The choice is theirs.
0:20 But some people have been astray from the beginning. They were never on the path.
0:25 They never came to the right path.
0:27 So, as Karim and I were talking the other night, they had no path in the beginning; they had no direction.
0:33 But the righteous had a direction.
0:35 These traitors, once upon a time, were given that sense of direction, but they chose to deviate and so on.
0:42 That's all I want to say. I've taken so much of your time.
0:44 I guess one thing more.
0:45 I want to summarize what Behrouz said, and then add a verse that we want to confirm.
0:53 But Behrouz is saying that there are the believers, the righteous, and then the disbelievers, and the hypocrites.
1:01 But he says that the hypocrites are also disbelievers. Yes, they are.
1:05 The hypocrites are disbelievers in the set of the unbelievers.
1:08 And I think we will crown this idea by looking at page 65, at the bottom, page 65 at the bottom, at verse 140.
1:21 God has revealed to you in the scripture that if you hear the revelations of God being rejected and ridiculed,
1:28 you shall not sit with them unless they engage in a different subject; otherwise you will be as guilty as they are.
1:35 Alright, and then the last part says, God will gather the hypocrites together with the disbelievers in Hell.
1:44 So both the disbelievers and the hypocrites are together.
1:48 They come to have an evil reward.
1:52 On verse 16, I was going to show a really strong parallelism.
1:57 Okay, it says, "They have chosen straying instead of guidance, and thus their trade never prospers, nor are they guided."
2:04 And if you go to Surah 22, verse 11 and 12, that's on page 226.
2:16 And there is the one who worships God conditionally.
2:24 If something good happens to him, he is content.
2:27 But when a tribulation afflicts him, he reverts.
2:30 Thus he loses both this life and the Hereafter.
2:34 Such is the real loss. He idolizes besides God what neither harms nor benefits him; this is the far straying.
2:40 To me, that's an expansion on that verse, very strongly.
2:51 It's, um, because it's conditional worshiping; that's when they were on the path and then...
2:56 and they left Him as betrayers.
2:59 Such a person really doesn't believe.
3:01 Yeah.
3:02 He believes only if something good is going on with him.
3:05 And it also says here in Verse 16 that their trade never prospers.
3:10 Well, it says here they lose both this life and the Hereafter.
3:17 If we go back to Chapter 1, then the theme would be... see, what we would have in that...
3:30 ...is an emphasis on a Hebrew word.
3:33 Excuse me.
3:35 Mustaqim would be a Hebrew word
3:36 for this interpretation, which I will discuss.
3:38 Now,
3:40 Verse 9,
3:43 contains the number 17,
3:46 we said the number 19,
3:48 and now the number 17
3:50 shows up.
3:52 So we have, in Verse 9,
3:55 the
3:56 number 19 from the Arabic.
3:58 the number 19, which is the code of the Quran, and we have the number 17.
4:05 Now the number 17 is the number of Bani Israel.
4:11 So the idea of the 17 and 19 together would be very consistent with the idea of having
4:19 Arabic words and Hebrew words together.
4:23 Now, probably, on the front, on page 361, yes, there's the Iranian calendar, the Bahá'í
4:38 calendar, that has 19 months...
4:41 361?
4:42 Yeah, 19 months of 19 days, that's the Bahá'í calendar.
4:49 So you have people who say they believe, but the faith has not entered their hearts.
4:57 So I think that in the third category, hypocrisy, in Surah 2, it's a no-joke description of people.
5:06 So apparently the Quran has more concern with hypocrisy than with everybody else.
5:13 So that shows the disease of hypocrisy is very important, it's a critical, it's a
5:19 critical condition, and the spirit of the Quran is to give the remedy for this affliction.
5:25 This is also very easy to perceive because you can imagine a person coming to you and
5:29 saying, I am a disbeliever, I don't believe in this.
5:31 And a person coming to you and saying, I'm a believer, I agree with you, I believe 100%,
5:37 when that person really is not a believer.
5:39 So we can see the deceit and the danger of hypocrisy.
5:46 I look at it in terms of a self-mechanism.
5:49 So you get an error.
5:50 So we did a lengthy analysis of the error
5:53 in order to have all the possible error recovery devices.
5:59 An engineer would design the self-mechanism.
6:03 First must have a sensor to find out the error,
6:06 and then a correction device.
6:08 I think the Quran is a self-maintaining device for the believer.
6:12 Okay, let's go on to verse 20, that also deals with the hypocrites.
6:20 The light of faith. Verse 20 says,
6:23 The lightning is so bright, it almost blinds them.
6:27 Whenever it lights for them, they move forward.
6:29 And when it turns dark, they stand still.
6:32 And if God willed, He could have taken away their hearing and their eyesight.
6:36 God is omnipotent. And we have a footnote here that says,
6:41 He does not imply gender in the Arabic language.
6:45 God Almighty is neither male nor female.
6:48 This is why Arabic was chosen for the final scripture.
6:53 Ok, this has to do with the word 'He'.
6:57 But the parable of the lightning is that the hypocrites
7:03 actually sit with the believers, and they claim to be believers, so they are
7:08 getting the light of the Quran. And whenever they follow that light, they move forward,
7:15 but when they ignore it, they are in total darkness, they cannot move, they stand still. Then we go to
7:21 verse 21, O people, you shall worship your Lord who created you, and those before you,
7:26 that you may attain salvation. He is the one who made the earth habitable for you.
7:33 He is the one who constructed the sky. He sends down water from the sky to produce
7:39 fruit for your sustenance. Therefore you shall not set up idols besides God, now that you know.
7:45 If you have any doubt regarding what we revealed to our servant, then
7:51 produce one surah like it, and call upon your witnesses besides God,
7:56 if you are truthful. And the challenge here to produce a surah
8:02 is not simply a literary challenge.
8:06 Because there were people who wrote pieces of literature that are excellent,
8:10 Shakespeare, and even Arabic,
8:15 or even some Arabic literature giants who claim that they can write better than the Quran.
8:23 literature-wise. And I agree with them. They actually did magnificent writing.
8:30 But the challenge here has to do with the mathematical structure of the Quran, not just the
8:35 literature. And that will really nullify their claims. I mean, what can you say to a person
8:40 who says, I can write better than Quran? That's his opinion, and he will find a lot of
8:46 people who would agree with him, but the mathematical structure cannot be duplicated.
8:58 Joseph had 11 brothers, and he saw in his dream 11 stars.
9:03 This is not the only one.
9:04 Then we come to some very important teachings in the Quran, starting at verse 24,
9:12 where heaven and hell are allegorically described.
9:18 Now, they are allegorically described because we cannot...
9:26 Somebody preaching over there?
9:34 Heaven and hell are allegorically described because we cannot imagine
9:39 the beauty of Heaven, or the reality of Heaven, there is absolutely no way you can imagine Heaven for real.
9:50 That's why in Surah 32 we're told that you have no idea how much joy and happiness are waiting for you in Heaven.
10:00 Nobody among the believers has any idea how much joy and happiness are in Heaven.
10:09 It's just indescribable.
10:11 So God describes them in terms that we can understand here.
10:14 That is, fruits, food, things that we enjoy in this life.
10:22 And then verse 24 says, if you fail to do this, and most certainly you will fail,
10:31 that is to duplicate the Quran, its mathematical structure and writings.
10:37 If you fail to do this, and most certainly you will fail, then beware of the hellfire
10:42 whose fuel is people and rocks. It awaits the disbelievers. And give good news to those
10:49 who believe and work righteousness, that they have deserved gardens with flowing
10:54 streams. This is the first description of Heaven and Hell. When given a fruit therein, they
11:00 would say, this is what was given to us before. They will be given the same kind.
11:05 They will have pure spouses therein, and they abide therein forever.
11:10 God does not shy away from citing any kind of example, from a mosquito and higher.
11:18 So you see, this will give you an idea that the description of Heaven in the Quran, compared to the real Heaven,
11:25 is like the mosquito compared to you.
11:29 Size-wise, complexity-wise, and of course goal-wise.
11:36 I mean, you don't go around stinging people.
11:39 Those who believe know that it is the truth from their Lord.
11:48 While the disbelievers would say,
11:50 What does God mean by such an allegory?
11:53 He misleads many thereby, and guides many thereby.
11:56 But He never misleads except the wicked. And this verse started a whole bunch of
12:05 discussions that went on for centuries, literally, that God misleads. This question was being
12:12 discussed over many centuries. But see the end of the verse here, it says
12:19 but He never misleads except the wicked. So the person is already wicked, the person
12:24 The person already made the decision that he doesn't want to have anything to do with God.
12:28 So God says, okay, I'm going to help you. You don't want anything to do with me, I'm going to mislead you.
12:33 And God misleads that person.
12:35 All the circumstances will work out against the guidance of a person who doesn't want to have anything to do with God.
12:43 So, the decision has to be made first.
12:48 Either you make a decision, you want to believe in God, or the person makes a decision that
12:54 he or she doesn't want to have anything to do with God.
12:57 Then based on this, God actually guides or misleads.
13:02 If you decide that you want to believe in God, then all the circumstances around you
13:07 He will work out to guide you.
13:14 He then will direct you in that direction.
13:16 God takes over.
13:17 All you need is to make a decision.
13:21 That's why
13:23 sometimes people
13:25 want a solution to their health problem
13:27 or financial problem
13:30 or
13:30 any kind of problem,
13:32 and there's always one solution.
13:34 One, only one solution,
13:36 that is to go to God.
13:39 Be with God. Be with God. That's the only thing.
13:42 That will solve all the problems.
13:44 Any kind of problem you can think of.
13:51 There was a whole bunch of problems in the Middle Ages.
13:55 One kept dying, and the other one,
13:56 for some reason or other,
13:59 what do you do then?
14:01 Yeah.
14:02 Yeah.
14:03 Yeah. Any kind of problem, whether it is health, or finance, or marital, or social,
14:14 all you need is to make one decision. That will solve all the problems.
14:19 But you have to have that confidence. You cannot do it through calculation.
14:26 Where will the money come from?
14:29 If I believe in God and just put all my trust in Him, where would the money come from?
14:33 God says it will come whence you never expect.
14:38 And if you expect it, the trust is not correct.
14:42 But it will come. Your problem will be over.
14:46 Over.
14:50 And the misleader is the devil.
14:53 But the reason for the wrong decision
14:57 is the mental immaturity.
14:58 The people who are not mature, who are not of age,
15:03 if they make the wrong decision, they will not be penalized.
15:07 They will be...
15:08 Children?
15:09 Children?
15:09 Yes.
15:10 They're not supposed to make a decision yet.
15:13 But they will make it.
15:14 They will make it when they grow up.
15:16 So there are people who are not capable of making a decision, and if they make a mistake, they can't...
15:22 God knows that. I mean, the person who is mentally retarded, and is incapable of making decisions, that person goes straight to heaven.
15:30 Because of his luck. That's the luckiest person.
15:35 Reagan goes to heaven.
15:36 What?
15:37 Who?
15:39 Reagan.
15:40 Reagan?
15:41 Reagan.
15:42 Reagan.
15:43 Well, if he is, if he believes in God, yes.
15:53 Are we at 27?
15:56 The definition of the wicked.
15:58 The wicked that are misled by God.
16:01 The wicked who violate God's covenant after
16:04 pledging to keep it,
16:06 sever what God has ordered to be joined,
16:09 and corrupt the earth.
16:11 These are the losers. Then we come to a very important verse, two deaths and two lives.
16:21 How could you disbelieve in God when you were dead, and He gave you life? Then He
16:29 will put you to death, then bring you back to life; to Him is your ultimate return.
16:33 Do you see the two deaths and two lives?
16:38 Do you know what death feels like?
16:43 Do you know what death feels like?
16:46 You tried it before, you were dead.
16:49 Remember the 3 million years you were dead?
16:53 You were dead for 3 million years, or more.
17:00 And that's exactly how death will feel like.
17:03 So if there were 3 million years to the Day of Resurrection, that's how long it will feel
17:10 to you.
17:11 I mean, exactly the way it felt to you in your first death.
17:16 You can think of all the human beings as the total human population, past, present and
17:26 future.
17:28 They exist in one of three stages.
17:31 Death before birth, then life on Earth,
17:36 and then the state of Barzakh.
17:40 Or, and then the other stages, being the
17:44 life from birth to death, and then the
17:48 second death.
17:52 And when the last person, or the last few
17:55 people die, then comes the resurrection.
17:56 You can see the two deaths and two lives.
17:59 We were dead, now we are alive, we are going to die, and then we get up again, for the
18:03 eternal life.
18:06 Real life.
18:07 And this is repeated in the Quran.
18:11 But death, of course, is a big mystery to most people, but not to Muslims.
18:16 Muslims know exactly what death feels like.
18:21 Most people who don't read the Quran, they don't realize that before this life, they were
18:26 dead.
18:29 Are you asking a question?
18:36 Okay, when you come and write in this Masjid,
18:39 I will give you a five dollar little penny.
18:43 That's an offer, that's an offer.
18:48 Can I?
18:50 I just want to make a very simple reflection on
18:55 on the divine Quranic miracle, and what I will say is new to most of you.
19:02 Anyhow, a little reminder is not so bad.
19:04 It's very interesting, see, 27 stops on a kind of subject, and 28 is a new one.
19:12 Although related, naturally.
19:14 On the fifth verse of Surah 2, God says that the righteous, those who follow the guidance,
19:23 and they are the winners.
19:28 Now in Arabic, Muflihun.
19:31 Right?
19:32 Now don't forget the word here.
19:36 This is for you.
19:39 Muflihun, the verb is F, three letters, F, L, H.
19:46 F, L, H.
19:48 And Muflih means one, Muflihun, many.
19:53 Now, at the end of 27, the hypocrite and the disbeliever, these are the losers.
20:01 See, this is a kind of craftsmanship, right?
20:05 Now, what I was going to mention is that for my dear brothers and sisters,
20:11 when Wali makes the adhan, or Ustad makes the adhan,
20:19 in the adhan is a phrase they say which is very beautiful. They say,
20:24 Hayya 'ala al-Falah, Hayya 'ala al-Falah.
20:27 The Falah is the same, F-L-H.
20:32 Come to, come and join the winning team.
20:36 Isn't that right?
20:38 When one hears Hayya 'ala al-Falah, come to the winning team.
20:43 And the Quran says they are those who observe the Salat, prayers.
20:48 These are the winners.
20:49 So the Mu'azzin is telling us, come to pray,
20:55 come to the winning team, the Falah.
20:58 And this is the same word used by the Quran.
21:02 The righteous are the winners.
21:05 The adhan is telling us, forget everything now and join the winning team.
21:10 It's a very simple observation, but I think it means a lot. Even our adhan, the call to prayer, is really an attempt to join the winning team.
21:20 And that's all I want to say. I want the adhan to be more meaningful for us, in relation to the Quran.
21:28 Well, at this time I'm going to make an announcement, and that is mostly mentioning the birthdays of three people.
21:35 Today is Maryam's birthday, tomorrow is Inga's birthday, and yesterday was mine.
21:52 So, what can I say to celebrate the birthday, when we have with us here kids who
21:59 think like us?
22:16 I hope I'm not taking too much time.
22:23 I don't want to let my life come to an end.
22:25 You are.
22:26 Did you touch the third rail?
22:28 No, I'm not.
22:29 Don't let them, don't let them bug you.
22:33 He likes to tease.
22:40 27. Those who violate God's covenant after pledging to keep it.
22:48 I think this can mean two things, historically.
22:53 Historically, it might mean, it might refer to those hypocrites who made a pledge with God regarding the coming of the Prophet to Medina and so on.
23:03 But that's historical.
23:04 For the more general aspect, it might have a reference to that verse, "Alastu bi Rabbikum?"
23:09 I can't find it.
23:10 That's coming up.
23:11 Oh, that?
23:12 Surah 7.
23:13 Yeah.
23:14 Surah 7.
23:15 100.
23:17 143.
23:18 143.
23:20 Surah 7.
23:21 142.
23:22 143.
23:23 143.
23:28 I'm sorry.
23:29 133.
23:30 100.
23:31 133.
23:32 Yeah.
23:32 100.
23:33 133.
23:37 7, 113.
23:38 You want to...
23:43 Am I not your Lord?
23:45 No, that's 143.
23:46 That's 143.
23:49 Or 172.
23:52 No, excuse me.
23:54 You want to say,
23:58 "Am I not your Lord?"
23:59 That's the verse.
24:01 172.
24:02 172.
24:04 I think that verse 27 of Surah 2 might be related to verse 172 of Surah 7, page 116.
24:24 This is the original covenant when Allah asked the descendants of Adam,
24:31 "Am I not your Lord?"
24:34 And mankind says,
24:35 "Yes." That is a covenant.
24:37 They admit that Allah is
24:39 the Lord. And therefore
24:41 this means a system of
24:43 relations and certainly
24:45 obligations on the part of mankind towards
24:47 Allah. But Allah promises
24:49 revelation. And yes,
24:52 back to Surah
24:53 Baqarah, these are people
24:55 who have entered into
24:57 God's covenant. All of us have
24:59 entered a covenant with Allah.
25:01 It's part of our nature, part of our mental, biological, physical, spiritual makeup to accept Allah as our Lord.
25:12 Or an instinct. It's a religious instinct and inclination on the part of man.
25:18 This is the covenant. And those who break the covenant go against their very nature.
25:26 Because they go against the instinct.
25:29 against the nature of the bird.
25:32 People who don't believe in God, they go against their instinct.
25:35 You can imagine if a bird refused to sit on its egg.
25:41 The bird lays the egg, then it sits on the egg; it's just instinct.
25:46 And if they refused to sit on the egg, the whole species would have become extinct.
25:53 Have you looked at verse 172 of Surah 7?
25:58 Do you realize now that you made a covenant with God?
26:00 Each one of us made a covenant with God, that He is our Lord.
26:06 And those who break this covenant, they're the ones who bring corruption to the earth.
26:12 They don't care about the Day of Accountability, for verse 172 says,
26:18 lest you say on the Day of Resurrection, "We never knew about this."
26:23 But these people who bring corruption on earth are those who think they don't have to account to anyone.
26:31 They bring mischief. They are no different from those birds that refuse to sit on their eggs.
26:37 They are defying their own nature. That's all.
26:40 Before we go to Inga, can I ask the mothers to make sure the kids are quiet?
26:45 And if your kids are making noise, contributing to the distraction, just take them out of the room.
27:04 Can you turn that off, please?
27:14 As soon as we're quiet, we can go to our next reader.
27:17 Sister, you were going to read for us, is that right?
27:40 How far did you get in this Surah?
27:45 Twenty-nine to thirty-nine.
27:49 Okay.
27:51 Do you want me to read all of it?
27:53 Yes, please.
27:55 Give us your reflections.
27:57 We'll see how much ESP you have.
28:00 I'm ready for it.
28:03 He is the One who created for you everything on earth.
28:06 Then He turned to the heaven and perfected seven heavens.
28:08 He is fully aware of all things.
28:15 And your Lord said to the angels, "I am placing a representative on earth."
28:20 They said, "Will You place on it one who will spread corruption and shed blood, while we praise Your glory and sanctify You?"
28:28 He said, "I know what you do not know."
28:30 He taught Adam all the names, then presented them to the angels, saying, "Tell me the names of these, if you are truthful."
28:37 They said, "Glory be to You, we have no knowledge except what You have taught us. You are indeed the All-Knowing, the All-Wise."
28:44 He said, "O Adam, tell them their names." And when he told them their names, He said,
28:50 "Did I not tell you that I know the secrets of the heavens and the earth, and I know what you reveal and what you conceal?"
28:57 And when We said to the angels, "Prostrate before Adam," they prostrated, except for Iblis. He refused and was arrogant.
29:07 And We said, "O Adam, dwell, you and your wife, in Paradise and eat from it generously, but do not approach this tree, lest you be among the transgressors."
29:18 But Satan caused them to slip, and got them expelled from where they were. We said, "Go down, as enemies to one another. On earth you will have a dwelling place and a provision for a time."
29:30 Then Adam received from his Lord words, and He redeemed him.
29:37 We said, "Go down from it, all of you. When guidance comes to you from Me, those who follow My guidance will have no fear, nor will they grieve.
29:47 As for those who disbelieve and reject Our revelations, they will be the dwellers of the Fire; they will abide therein forever."
30:13 Thank you for watching.
30:29 The seven heavens are the structure of the universe.
30:33 One of the...
30:39 Our immediate universe includes a hundred billion galaxies and a hundred billion stars.
30:44 It has distances of billions of light years.
30:48 All this incredible vastness is only part of the lowest and smallest heaven.
30:52 Six more larger heavens surround our lowermost, small heaven.
30:56 and they said, "We glorify You, praise You, and sanctify You, so why place on it one who will shed blood and cause corruption?"
31:09 The verse 2:29 is showing us what we can't even imagine.
31:14 The seven heavens... And how many Gods are there?
31:20 Seven heavens, and how many homes?
31:21 Seven heavens, and how many houses?
31:26 Seven universes, and how many houses?
31:32 One God.
31:33 You are reading the Quran now.
31:40 We are reading the Quran.
31:43 Okay.
31:56 They are asking or inquiring because they already praise God.
32:17 I don't know if that means they think they can go to Earth too, and see if they can die
32:21 or what.
32:22 How do they know that man is going to be bad?
32:28 I'm going to give you something to think about.
32:30 You notice in the first sentence, God told the angels He's placing a representative. Where?
32:36 On Earth.
32:37 This is before creation of Adam, right?
32:39 Yes.
32:39 Before Adam.
32:40 because he doesn't go to earth unless he breaks God's law.
32:45 And this is before he was created.
32:49 Yeah, so this is why God put them in heaven,
32:53 in paradise, put Adam and Eve in paradise.
32:56 But before He created them, He said to the angels,
33:00 on earth. But God knew that they would break
33:04 His law, and they would deserve to be kicked out of heaven, and sent
33:08 sent down to earth, and the angels concluded from this, that this creature is going to break God's law.
33:13 So they said, "Why do You create a creature who will break God's law,
33:18 while we are praising and glorifying You all the time?"
33:21 So God said, "I know what you do not know."
33:24 Which is what?
33:26 Right, what?
33:31 Right.
33:32 Right.
33:33 So, what did they protest?
33:36 Protest of creating Adam?
33:38 No, no.
33:38 They are saying to Allah,
33:41 "We hold You sacred."
33:43 "Hold You sacred" means whatever You say, we obey.
33:46 This is their bay'ah.
33:48 This is, in other words, what the angels said:
33:51 "We are doing everything that you expect us to do.
33:54 We carry out the orders."
33:56 I'm sorry, Inga, but I...
33:58 I guess I would have assumed that
34:20 the souls had already been created.
34:23 Right.
34:24 Right, you're right.
34:26 That's right.
34:28 Okay now, if you take the whole Quran in totality, what Inge is asking is,
34:33 God is telling the angels, who is making the noise there?
34:40 Keep him apart or something to make him quiet.
34:43 Get that bottle out from next to Erol.
34:48 So Inge is saying, where are the souls of the human beings at that time?
34:57 We are told in surah 40, in surah 18, that God did not let the angels witness our creation, the creation of our souls.
35:07 God created the souls of you and me and everybody, but the angels did not witness that.
35:12 But at the appropriate moment, God told the angels, "I am going to place a representative on earth."
35:19 And they said, they concluded from this, that this creature will break God's law and will deserve to be kicked out of heaven and sent down to earth.
35:26 So they said, why create a creature who will break your law?
35:31 And God said, "I know what you do not know."
35:35 What God knew, as we saw in this expression here,
35:38 do you remember? Do you get it?
35:40 Let's see what verse, what verse is that?
35:48 Yeah, the end of verse 30.
35:51 His answer at the end is what? "I know what you do not know."
35:55 And what God knew was that one of the, one of the big angels...
36:02 Who's grunting?
36:11 What God knew was that one of the archangels was thinking rebellious ideas.
36:18 And God wanted to expose that one angel.
36:22 Now the angels, the angels don't know that.
36:27 The angels don't know that Satan is rebelling.
36:31 God knew what the angels did not know.
36:33 And one purpose, the first purpose of creating Adam
36:38 was to expose Satan.
36:42 As we see later on.
36:44 Do you want to go on, Inge?
36:46 May I just say something?
36:48 Inge raised the question.
36:54 It's indeed a bid on the part of the angels to become the representative, did you not
36:59 suggest it?
37:01 No, you mentioned the word, "representative."
37:02 And then I wanted to know why they would do that, you know, this thing of wanting to
37:05 supplant him for God.
37:06 Many people, many persons have interpreted this verse to mean that the angels are saying
37:14 to God, "Why put people who shed blood?"
37:17 I think they were making a deal, the angels wanted to be the representatives.
37:25 Some people have asked this question, and I've heard it, and it's very curious that Inge suggested that, no?
37:30 I wanted to ask, were they offering that, or was it something to do with jealousy?
37:34 Well, rather than the jealousy.
37:36 It's a simple question. It's a simple question.
37:39 Why create a creature who will defy and revolt?
37:42 We do not do that.
37:44 It's an excellent question. If I said I knew what it is...
37:47 But isn't this a deal on the part of the angels, that they're asking for something in exchange?
37:53 They're already much higher.
37:57 It's a very interesting question.
37:58 They do not want to be lower.
38:01 When God said "representative on earth," that's a terrible demotion.
38:07 And that's exactly what tipped off the angels as to the nature of the human being.
38:14 Shedding blood, corrupting the earth, not praising God when he should be praised.
38:21 And the evidence was all around us.
38:28 It is because there are those names, when people look at angels, some names that you are aware of.
38:37 I just talked about this thing a couple of times before, and I'm not comfortable with it.
38:42 I don't...
38:43 Well, how, let me put it this way.
38:45 Who was it that was presented to the angels?
38:49 Adam, Adam, Adam, Adam, Adam, Adam, Adam, Adam, Adam, Adam, Adam, Adam.
38:52 Right. Did you watch the funeral of Princess Grace?
38:58 Well, we did. It was here on the TV, right?
39:02 So there's an event going on, on the other side of the globe,
39:06 that we're watching live here.
39:09 Everything that's happening over there, we're watching it here.
39:11 And how do you think the angels feel about this invention of the TV?
39:19 Now this is the kind of thing that God taught us.
39:23 When a person is sitting in Washington D.C., I was sitting in Tucson.
39:28 That's quite an event.
39:33 Now, so, this is the kind of knowledge that amazed the angels.
39:39 This was meant by the names.
39:41 In other words, God gave a human being knowledge.
39:46 How do you think the angels feel about a 747 flying, a huge city, floating in the air?
39:57 Did you ride a 747?
40:02 Did you ride a 747 plane?
40:05 When you ride it, you look inside and you just wonder how is this steel, this thing
40:11 built of steel, and aluminum, etc., etc., and carpets, and engines, and so forth, is up
40:17 floating in the air.
40:18 And when you sit at the, you go to the other end of the plane and look inside, it's a whole
40:24 like a floating city.
40:26 And the human being did that, and the angels watching in amazement.
40:34 So this is the, this is the knowledge that God gave to the human being.
40:42 Inventing the TV, the video recorder, the airplane, that's what's meant by the names.
40:51 So that really explains what you wanted to say.
40:55 Right.
40:57 Thank you.
40:59 Question over there?
41:01 Yes.
41:04 What did he make the soul out of?
41:07 Yes, that's the question in Surah 17.
41:10 What did he make the soul out of?
41:16 That you find out in a different dimension.
41:20 That's the answer.
41:24 The soul is in a different dimension.
41:28 But the soul is part of God, by the way.
41:35 Great, good. The soul is a small part of God, which is why when you do things that have to do with God, your soul grows.
41:44 What this soul looks like, what it is made of, you will find out in the day of resurrection.
41:50 Now that's not symmetrical, is it? Okay, go ahead.
42:04 Okay, so that was the first purpose of creating the human being, is to expose Satan.
42:10 Because God made him up out of clay, of lowly material.
42:16 And Satan was very, very arrogant and rebellious.
42:20 So God told the angels, this is what God knew, that the angels would not disobey.
42:25 Alright.
42:27 Thank you.
42:27 I'm sorry.
42:29 Give me your question again.
42:31 When Satan was cast out, was any other angel cast out with him or not?
42:39 He was just cast out, and we are not told of any other.
42:45 God has made a deal with him for a time.
42:50 What does the Bible say? I think the Bible mentions other angels who work with him.
43:12 What's the question again?
43:16 The question is, was Satan cast out alone or did he have entities with him?
43:20 Fallen entities.
43:21 In the Bible, not in the Torah, not in the Psalms, but in other parts of the Bible, a big group went with him.
43:34 It doesn't matter though, that's the...
43:36 When I was wondering what it was like back then, was Satan tempted by Satan?
43:41 Yeah.
43:42 I was wondering what, you know...
43:44 We were not, we were not with Adam at the time either.
43:48 We didn't exist. We are descendants of Adam, but we didn't exist then, I mean our bodies.
44:01 Descendants means they came from him, not that all descendants were with him.
44:08 But I can't think of any place in Quran where it mentions any other angels.
44:12 Iblis was just cast out by himself.
44:18 Yes.
44:19 I thought it was said that Adam was made from clay,
44:23 and angels from light,
44:28 and the jinn were made from fire?
44:31 They were made out of the fire.
44:33 The angels were made out of fire, not made out of light.
44:39 The definition of jinn, the definition of jinn is a hidden angel.
44:45 So the angel, when the angel rebels, becomes a jinn.
44:50 When Satan became a jinn, he was an angel.
44:57 Some of the old sheikhs decided that Satan was not an angel; I think it's lack of knowledge
45:11 of the Arabic language. This happens only in Persia and Pakistan, where they refute
45:17 that Satan was an angel.
45:19 But if you look, do you have a copy of the Quran there?
45:23 If you look at this, verse 34, it says,
45:27 And We said to the angels,
45:32 fall prostrate before Adam. So, it's certain.
45:36 If Satan were not an angel, he would not be required to
45:39 prostrate. He, therefore, broke God's law.
45:43 Because God told the angels to prostrate.
45:48 Right? There is absolutely no question that Satan was one of them.
45:53 I've heard all of these stories, but they don't mean anything.
45:57 What?
45:57 When I was listening to a scholar, for instance, I heard an old statement saying he was blind.
46:02 It's a hadith. The Quran doesn't say that he was blind.
46:06 But it says that these additions are made in contrast.
46:08 Right.
46:14 The jinn were made of fire, so since a jinn was an angel initially, then I suppose
46:21 the angels were made of fire.
46:23 We have the same theory.
46:33 But there's no difference between fire and light.
46:35 Anyway, the angels made of light is a hadith.
46:39 The ruh.
46:42 What's the question?
46:44 Now, there is the second question.
46:47 What word?
46:48 The word that we see, the word that is pure.
46:52 And what does He say?
46:56 When We said to the angels, "Bow down to Adam,"
46:59 they bowed down, except Iblis.
47:01 He said, "Shall I bow down to one whom You created from clay?"
47:06 So what I understand from this is that Adam was only created in a form.
47:11 It's his bodily form there.
47:13 So they could see the clay form of his body.
47:17 But later on it says that when he ate from the tree, his body became visible to them.
47:24 So it sounds like...
47:25 Do you see a soul?
47:29 No.
47:29 The soul is ruh. The ruh is not visible. But you are now in the dimension where the body is visible to you.
47:37 You are not in the dimension of the ruh, the soul. This is why you don't see it.
47:42 So, before eating from the tree, they were in the dimension of the soul, where the body is invisible to them.
47:50 And as soon as they broke God's law, they went down to the dimension where the body is visible to them.
48:02 You cannot be in there, in both of them.
48:09 Yes, it's very clear in the Quran that when they ate from the tree, their bodies became
48:13 visible to them.
48:15 But the angels could see, of course, they have to see both of them.
48:19 And they are God's helpers.
48:21 They are supposed to have access to any body.
48:26 Other questions?
48:30 First, I think we're going into it too far.
48:36 This idea of the names, maybe we should spend some more time on it.
48:45 Basically, we compare it with the...
48:48 We're not studying the Bible of the Jews and Christians,
48:52 but I think if we go deeper, we might learn something, maybe.
48:58 For example, one difference is this.
49:01 In the Bible of the Jews and Christians, it does not say that God taught Adam.
49:17 There, Adam, on his own accord, began to give names to the animals and the plants.
49:29 This is already one difference.
49:31 In the Quran, Allah teaches Adam the names, whatever these names are.
49:36 But in the Bible of the Jews, Adam is on his own.
49:42 There's no suggestion that Allah teaches Adam.
49:44 It's Adam who goes to the garden and he starts to name the things that God created.
49:51 I think this is very important.
49:53 Because the way Moses Maimonides, who is the greatest Jewish philosopher,
49:58 describes how Adam is naming animals and plants,
50:04 you would think that Adam was a professor of botany and zoology.
50:10 And I would think that Adam would have bigger things to worry about.
50:18 So, many Muslims in their tafsir, guided by the readings of the Jewish Bible,
50:26 and to demonstrate to other Muslims that they know something else beyond the Quran,
50:31 Theologians began to teach us that what Allah taught Adam were the names of animals and plants.
50:41 So this time, it's Allah who becomes the professor of botany and zoology.
50:48 Now, it seems there is something in the names which the angels do not know, or maybe cannot know.
50:56 But they can know some.
50:57 Now, this is very interesting, there have been many interpretations about this, of many kinds, some tolerant and some indulgent.
51:10 There is a standard teaching among some Sufi writers, that these names refer to the names of Allah.
51:21 Now, first of all, I think among the Arabs, knowing a name is more than knowing a name,
51:30 like, say, sir.
51:31 No.
51:31 As Ustaz is saying, a name refers to more than the name of someone, it refers to knowledge,
51:37 which I accept.
51:39 You mentioned it.
51:41 And most people who have made commentary will agree that these names refer to knowledge.
51:47 Knowledge. Some say knowledge of abstraction. That is the intelligence of man. He can go
51:55 from the concrete to the abstract. He can go and rationalize or reason, we say.
52:03 In other words, he can know logic. But I am very much inclined to accept the hints of
52:10 the Sufis when they say that Allah taught Adam the names of His qualities.
52:21 Now this is knowledge of the highest form. And the angels cannot know all. For example,
52:27 Allah, one of the names of Allah is, He is One who gives death. Now angels, it seems,
52:33 don't know what is death.
52:36 Death.
52:38 Allah who willed
52:39 it.
52:41 But Adam can understand
52:43 eventually the meaning of death.
52:45 Another thing.
52:46 An angel, as philosophers
52:49 argue, cannot understand
52:51 the meaning of
52:53 patience or the care of children.
52:55 You know.
52:56 Because they don't have children.
52:59 So when Allah tells us to be patient,
53:00 we understand that. If Allah helps us, we understand Allah if He tells us to be patient.
53:05 This is a quality which Allah helps us develop. But the angels cannot have this.
53:11 In other words, the angels belonging to another dimension and not having a physical body like us
53:17 cannot exemplify some of the virtues which Allah already wants us to demonstrate.
53:26 And I think many of these names of Allah, like for example Al-Musawwir, and also Allah
53:36 is Al-Muhyi, He who gives life.
53:39 In some ways we do give life with the help of Allah.
53:41 When we have children, we are in some ways creating, naturally with the help of Allah,
53:47 we are creating lives.
53:49 And I do not think angels understand that.
53:53 They cannot know this thing.
53:55 Be careful now, don't make them angry.
53:58 No, because I cannot see them.
54:00 They're watching you now.
54:02 I'm talking to you because I cannot show you with my eyes.
54:06 So, maybe I'll be borne out with my eyes.
54:11 Watch what you say about the angels because you don't want to make them angry.
54:17 And so, the way I look at it is that I agree that these names refer to knowledge, and I
54:24 would just like to submit for your thinking, for you to develop on your own, or reject,
54:29 that maybe these names are a special form of knowledge.
54:34 They refer to those special qualities of Allah which He gave us the ability to exercise when
54:42 He, as we just mentioned, gave part of himself to us as a soul.
54:47 He breathed unto us something of his spirit.
54:52 That is our soul.
54:53 And this gives us the capacity to understand certain things.
54:57 And the angels can never know this.
55:00 It seems to me, therefore, that in our test in life, you need a body.
55:09 And you need the combination of this body with part of ourselves, which really is Allah's,
55:14 to exercise certain things in order to arrive at certain knowledge.
55:18 And this is what Allah has given us.
55:23 And that's why He has sent us to a material world,
55:25 because only we can interact in this material world with our bodies
55:29 and exemplify certain potentialities.
55:32 And the angels cannot, by virtue of their nature.
55:34 Yes, they can. They can?
55:36 They carried the throne of Sheba from...
55:41 from... they are very physical.
55:42 They can... I mean, they are... actually, they're solid in nature.
55:47 Well, they can do many things, but some they cannot. For example...
55:51 See, what I'm saying is they are very physical.
55:52 They are not... a lot of people think of angels as spirits
55:56 who can go through this wall. They can't...
55:58 They can tear it down, but they are very physical.
56:00 No, I agree with you. They are forces. They can do.
56:02 But I cannot imagine an angel having a toothache and telling Allah, Allah strengthen me with my patience to tolerate this toothache.
56:11 Certain cases.
56:11 Certain cases.
56:13 Not all.
56:14 Because the idea here is that angels need to know certain things.
56:17 The only problem with the names of Allah is that the next verse says that God showed these things to the angels.
56:24 And said, tell me the names of these.
56:27 So they are objects.
56:28 They are the names of objects.
56:31 They are not just names; they are theories.
56:33 Yes, but verse 32 suggests that the angels know some of the names.
56:39 In 32, they say, we have no knowledge except what you already have taught us.
56:45 So angels know.
56:47 Yes, but what I'm saying is, God showed the angels something, objects,
56:51 and said, give me the names of these.
56:54 He presented them to the angels and asked them, give me the names of these.
56:58 So there is something being presented, and the angels asked to give the names of these things.
57:04 Yeah, but the angels do not seem to know.
57:06 Right, they didn't.
57:07 They didn't know.
57:08 Is there a reference to what things were shown? Like arms and feet, or people, or animals?
57:16 No, that's just an object.
57:18 It could be qualities.
57:21 How do you show a quality?
57:25 How can you show clemency?
57:27 Yes, you cannot see clemency, but you can see the effect on material things.
57:32 No, but you cannot present clemency in some way and say, what is this?
57:37 For example, on a hot day we need rain.
57:41 This is something physical, but we can say it is an expression of the quality of Allah or nothing.
57:49 It's not the quality of Allah.
57:50 Or punishment.
57:51 Or punishment, in this case maybe.
57:52 Because Allah, also one of His names, He punishes.
57:55 He is severe in punishment. Anyhow, this is a form of knowledge, for reflection.
58:01 Very good point.
58:02 But I don't want to go deeper or elaborate on it.
58:05 It's just for some who would like to...
58:06 It's really very simple.
58:09 We are at verse 34.
58:12 And this is a very good point.
58:14 The names can be anything.
58:16 Let's go back to our lesson, because it's hard to get the other details.
58:21 Okay, thirty-five.
58:25 Adam lived with his wife in paradise, and eat from it freely as you please, but do not approach this one tree, or you will fall into transgression.
58:30 studying the names of what he knows is going to happen.
58:33 The names of what he knows is going to happen.
58:37 Then Satan made them slip, and taught him to turn from his religion.
58:44 Go down as enemies to each other.
58:46 And that 'each other' refers to the devil and mankind,
58:50 or at least Adam and his wife.
58:57 And on earth will be your habitation and a provision for a while, not condemning them there forever.
59:06 Then Adam received from his Lord words, and He redeemed him.
59:19 Now, he's redeemed, but God then told him that this offense that you did is forgiven, period.
59:26 But if the ultimate objective was to send Adam and all his descendants to earth,
59:30 in order to show Satan and the angels,
59:33 what this creature was, who would worship God without ever seeing Him?
59:37 That's the second objective of our being here today.
59:40 As far as we're concerned, we are here to worship God,
59:45 to discover that God is the only Master.
59:49 It's really what 2:138 is all about.
59:52 We said, "Go down from there, all of you."
59:54 And when guidance comes to you from Me,
59:56 those who follow My guidance,
59:57 they will have no fear, nor will they grieve.
1:00:00 Although mankind was placed on Earth,
1:00:03 they're not forgotten,
1:00:04 they're not just left.
1:00:06 And we'll have the opportunity
1:00:07 to share some stories,
1:00:10 some of them,
1:00:12 along with a lot of people.
1:00:14 We'll go back.
1:00:17 And those who disbelieve and reject Our revelations, they are the dwellers of hell; they will abide in it forever.
1:00:23 There is an ocean here of Quranic revelations.
1:00:28 The test is frequently in the world.
1:00:30 It's rare that we take a step back and do those through God's will.
1:00:34 It's a failure if we don't take a step back and do those through the light of God's revelation.